Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
Paul Keens Douglas waxes warm at 'Come Mek Wi Laaf', held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston, on Sunday. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
THE INVITATION given out by the Best Care Foundation was to 'Come Mek Wi Laaf' and, with the help of storyteller Paul Keens Douglas and Charles Hyatt, the audience at the Jamaica Pegasus on Sunday night were able to do just that -laugh, laugh and laugh some more.
In her introduction of Paul Keens Douglas, the evening's host, Joan Andrea Hutchinson, described him as a master storyteller. This was quite in keeping with Keens Douglas' delivery on Caribbean culture, which was simply masterful.
His stories varied from the art of storytelling to experiences with the wonderfully cantankerous and excitable character, Tantie Merle. He also touched on the trials of modern medicine - or rather, how modern man finds medicine trying - and, of course, carnival and cricket.
SEPARATED BY ACCENTS
He began by setting the stage for story time, pointing out that various groups use different markers to indicate that a story is about to be told, whether it be 'tim tim', 'crick crack', 'Jack Mandora mi nuh choose none' or the journalist's favourite, 'reliable sources'.
From there, Keens Douglas began to illustrate that the islands of the Caribbean are separated by accents which cloud meaning, aided by the fact that "what we say is not what we mean". As such, with phrases such as 'reverse back', 'well sick', 'little big', 'whole half' and 'negative growth' in our vocabulary, one of our chief problems is communication.
The cost of health was put forward as another of the region's major problems. As such, Keens Douglas proposed the creation of a pill exchange programme to counter the high cost of medication, which he argued would work because West Indians neither throw away medication nor take the full course, so there is always some left in the medicine cupboard.
He later jumped from hilarious experiences, trying to play mas in Trinidad Carnival to end with two takes on cricket. The first was a day at the Oval with Tantie Merle and the second a poem in tribute to Brian Lara.
Charles Hyatt used technology to allow him to tackle double roles, employing a pre-recorded version of himself as a 'rude bwoi', whom he then engaged in conversation. The sketch, which ran a little too long, could have been tightened, but it had a fabulous end.
Hyatt also went back to the childhood and the wish to earn a toy gun for Christmas. "Di funny ting is, di whola we like gun but is only bwoi pickney have gun, yuh neva have no gun man," he said to the audience's amusement. He would earn the coveted toy gun, which would enable him to engage in endless hours of 'Cowboy and Indian', by not urinating on the bed. It was a futile hope, as the famed pee-pee dream finally conquered him.
LEMON'S HILARIOUS PIECE
The night also featured a short performance by Lemon, who had been scheduled as the opening act, but arrived late. Lemon kept the jokes sweet with a sketch about a man with a speech impediment attempting to make a phone call before his credit ran out, a hilarious piece about who broke the wall of Jericho, and an illustration of why cricket is a game of 'slackness'.
The night's sole non-comedian was Harry Vendryes, who employed scarves, doves, rings and levitation to keep the question 'how does he do that?' on people's lips.
The night was a part of Best Care Foundation's attempt to raise the $8 million they need in operation costs to care for the severely physically and mentally handicapped.
